The Dog Who Cried Drugs
by Swagnarok
Summary: After a new year's trip to Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Conan and the Detective Boys make a shocking discovery at the local airport. Episodes 880-881, chronological first story in series.
1. Chapter 1

The six of them stepped inside the Takasaki Airport.

They got on the escalator.

"It was really sweet of you to cover all of our plane tickets," Ran said. "Thanks."

"W-well, actually, I wasn't the one who paid for this trip," Dr. Agasa said. "It was all Kanzaki-san."

Dr. Agasa had recently decided that he was going to visit his old friend Watayoshi Kanzaki, a very rich and successful inventor who lived in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture. Conan, Ran, and the three Detective Boys tagged along, since this trip coincided with the New Year.

Across Japan it was traditional to purchase Daruma Dolls at Takasaki on New Years Day. A Daruma Doll was a hollow, round traditional Japanese doll that looked somewhat similar to a red human head. A Daruma Doll came with two entirely white eyes that had no pupils. The idea was that when you had some goal or task that you needed good luck for, you'd paint in one of the eyes. Whenever you had accomplished whatever it was, you'd paint in the other eye and return the Daruma Doll to Takasaki at the end of the year.

Last night all of them except for the Professor stayed up late to walk around Takasaki during the lively New Year's celebrations. 2018 had gotten off to a good start.

Genta groaned.

"Huh? Genta?" Conan said. "Is something wrong?"

"Man, it itches so bad," Genta whined, referring to his left hand.

"I told you," Mitsuhiko said. "You shouldn't have gone around searching in dark spaces for spiders. But would you listen to me?"

"But I saw some local kids holding spider battles!" Genta said. "It looked like so much fun, that when I saw it I even stopped thinking about food!"

 _Oy_ , _oy_ , let's not get extreme here, Conan thought with a deadpan look.

"Do you want me to change the bandages on that, Genta-kun?" Ran offered. "I think it's been over 10 hours now, hasn't it?"

Genta nodded.

They stopped, Ran opened Dr. Agasa's suitcase, and she took out another bandage. She took off the one Genta was using and replaced it.

"There, all better," she said, and she smiled.

Conan noted that Genta was blushing, and he shot him a somewhat dirty look in response.

She handed the dirty bandage to Conan.

Why's she giving this to me? Conan thought, annoyed. It isn't mine.

"Hey, Conan-kun, would you be so kind as to throw this away for me?"

She donned a big cutesy face, and Conan just blushed and accepted the dirty bandage. He went to go throw it away in a nearby trash bin.

The Professor looked at a sign. "Security Screening should be right around this corner."

They turned the corner and got in back of the line, which looked rather long. Somebody's baby was crying obnoxiously.

Conan sighed. Just another day at the airport, he thought.

 **Opening**

(Truth is the convergence of many facts into a beam of light that pierces the shadows!

In today's case, suspicious activity at an airport, conducted on a daily basis...right under the noses of security!

With the body of a child but the brain of an adult, his name is DETECTIVE CONAN!)

( _SILVER BULLET_ by Egoist)

You wipe the blood off your hands, leave the body to the crows

Then you re-enter the crowd, having become a wolf among the lambs

You have made the devil's bargain, yet still you walk among the saints

You let out a sigh and you dare to believe that "nobody will ever know"

A child's cry, a sobbing promise to a dying loved one, words never forgotten

Years pass, his passion undiminished by time wasted and empty leads

He at last finds the golden key that opens the door to the closed case

In the middle of a night like any other, a thousand lights shine upon you!

As long as people continue to devise ways to hurt each other

We will remain faithful and vigilant soldiers in the war on crime

Remembering that path I swore to protect and serve I draw my gun

In a moment of clarity and brilliance the _SILVER BULLET_ is fired!

 **The Dog Who Cried Drugs! Part One!**

"Next!"

The line trudged forward about two or three steps.

"Hey, Conan, do you know what that big machine's for?" Genta asked.

"Huh? Genta? You don't know?" Mitsuhiko said. "Detective Mouri explained that what that machine's for last time, didn't he? When we were in the Tokyo International Airport going to Okinawa."

To be fair, that feels like a super long time ago for some reason, Conan thought.

"Well, Genta, that's an X-Ray machine," Conan said. "See how people's bags are being rolled into it on a conveyor belt and then they come out on the other side? When the bags are inside it, they're being scanned by the X-Ray, so Airport Security can look inside of the bag without having to go through the trouble of opening it, scrounging through it to look for contraband like drugs or guns or bombs, and making the inside of the bag all messy and disorganized. With this they can simply look at the bag's inner contents from several angles and then let it pass."

Genta nodded. "But last time we went, I think I remember there being one other thing we had to do."

"Ah, you mean the Baggage Carousel?" Conan said. "The X-Ray machine lets them look inside the bag and it provides some basic information on this composition of the substances inside, but on the Baggage Carousel the bag's taken to a private room where another machine specifically tests for drugs and bombs, again without having to open the bag."

"But not guns?" Mitsuhiko asked.

"Well, there's no need for that," Conan said. "Bombs and drugs can take on deceptive appearances so that you think it's something else, but it's very hard to make a gun not look like a gun, so if someone's got something like that on them they'll be stopped here."

"But what if the gun's not in their bag?" Mitsuhiko asked.

"Do you see how those people are taking off their belts and shoes and putting them in those plastic bins?" Ran pointed out. "The stuff they have on them is searched by a guard, and then they step through a scanner to ensure they aren't hiding anything."

Ayumi shrunk back. "Y-you mean I have to go through a scanner?"

"Huh? What's wrong?" Dr. Agasa asked.

"I-I just don't want some guy behind a desk seeing me naked," Ayumi said bashfully.

Conan chuckled. "Nah, it's just a metal detector, since guns are either composed of metal or they have some metal parts which can be picked up by the scanner."

"Hey, Ayumi-chan, If it makes you feel any better I'll go first," Ran said.

It was their turn. Ran cut in front of the Ayumi, took off her belt and shoes, put her baggage on the conveyor belt, and passed through the metal detector.

After that, Ayumi felt better and went through the procedure without hesitating.

 **Scene Transition**

They walked into the Food Court airport and put down their bags at a table.

The Professor looked at his watch. "Uh, okay, we can all grab something to bite as long as we eat fast. Here's 800 yen for each person to buy themselves something."

And so they all went to pick out some lunch.

Conan and Dr. Agasa ended up gravitating towards a sushi shop.

Dr. Agasa was first in line.

"How may I help you?" Choi Soo-geun, age 36, the owner and employee up front, asked.

"Uh, yes," Dr. Agasa said, mulling over the menu. "I'd like a number 5, please."

And afterwards everyone sat down with their stuff.

Dr. Agasa took a bite and then grinned. "Mmm, this is good. It's like...it's like they make their sushi from scratch."

"Like a true chef ought to," Conan said in concurrence. "With rice and vinegar and other base ingredients."

"It's a real shame that Haibara-san couldn't come with us," Mitsuhiko said. "This turned out to be a really fun trip."

"Y-yeah," Dr. Agasa said, a bit disheartened.

The night before the trip, Dr. Agasa couldn't sleep so he decided to do some serious late night cleaning around the house. He filled a small pitcher full of bleach for this purpose and set it on the kitchen table.

When he was using the bathroom, Haibara woke up. She was feeling thirsty so she walked into the kitchen, saw the pitcher, poured herself a glass, and ended up being rushed to the emergency room to have her stomach pumped. She was currently recovering at Beika Hospital. The Professor felt it was best to cancel the trip, but she insisted that he go and have a good time, and to give Ran her ticket.

Ayumi, having been reminded about Haibara, took the Daruma Doll out of her backpack.

"Ah, so you bought one too, Ayumi-chan?" Mitsuhiko asked.

Ayumi nodded. "Daruma-san, please help Ai-chan make a speedy recovery."

She used a marker to fill in one of the Daruma's eyes.

" _Nanakorobi_ ," Ran said, " _Yaoki_."

You fall down seven times, you get back up eight times.

Mitsuhiko took his own Daruma Doll out and filled in one of its eyes.

"Daruma-san, may Haibara-san get well soon," Mitsuhiko said.

Genta didn't buy one because he blew his money on snacks.

They looked at Conan.

"Uh, Conan, didn't you have one too?" Mitsuhiko asked.

"I-I think two times is enough for Haibara," Conan excused.

They looked at Ran.

"M-mine's already filled out," Ran said.

She took hers out of her bag and showed it to them. "See?"

On the night of New Year's Day, Conan had seen Ran standing by herself in an empty street. She was filling in the eye of her Daruma Doll and muttering loudly, "Please bring Shinichi back to me, if only for my upcoming birthday."

Ashamed, Conan had then proceeded to go down to the crowded marketplace, bought one of his own, filled in its eye, and prayed, "Please don't permit me to let Ran down." He knew that it was foolish to put any stock in superstitions, but he felt that matching her moneyed investment in a doll would be a small way of making amends. And who knew? Maybe Daruma-san really would lend him a hand.

"Eeehh?" Ayumi said, pointing to a dog.

"Ooh, that's a service dog, right?" Mitsuhiko asked.

A security guard was standing in the food court with a K-9 dog on a leash, talking to Choi Soo-geun.

Genta got up and began to approach the dog excitedly.

"Genta, stop!" Conan said, getting up sharply.

Genta stopped in his tracks and looked back at Conan.

"Huh? Why?" Genta asked, a bit disappointed.

"Genta, it's important that you never pet a service animal," Conan said. "That could confuse it."

"Confuse it?" Mitsuhiko repeated.

"When a service animal is on duty, petting it could distract it and cause it to think that it's no longer on duty," Conan said. "For instance, some service dogs are used to alert people to oncoming seizures. If someone pets such a dog, it might not alert its owner when it detects one, and that could be fatal. In the same vein, K-9s are used to detect drugs and explosives. If a terrorist or drug trafficker passes by, but somebody's petting the dog at that moment, it might let that person get away. You don't want to be responsible for something like that, do you Genta?"

"N-no," Genta said sheepishly, sitting back down.

"I didn't see any dog at the airport security back there," Ayumi said.

"That's probably because the dog's involved in checking bags behind the scene," Conan said.

"B-behind the scene?" Ran asked.

Conan nodded. "I'll explain it to you guys later."

Suddenly, three men in sunglasses sat down at a nearby table, laying down three large bags at their feet. Conan thought they looked kind of suspicious.

 **Scene Transition**

After they had finished eating, they all grabbed their bags and headed deeper into the airport.

They arrived before a conveyor belt. People were putting their bags onto the conveyor belt and it was drawing their stuff into a hole in the wall.

Dr. Agasa, Conan, Ran, and the Detective Boys put their bags onto the conveyor belt.

"I take it this is where the dogs sniff the bags?" Ran asked Conan.

Conan nodded. "Yeah, probably. Nowadays many airports use advanced scanning technologies, but those generally aren't as reliable as K-9 dogs."

"Huuh?" Mitsuhiko said. "Really? Even in the 21st century dogs are better than machines?"

"Yup," Conan said.

"Hold on though," Genta said. "Couldn't you fool a dog by masking the smell with heavy perfume or something?"

"With humans, maybe," Conan said. "If you lump a bunch of different smells together, a human will just smell that one combined odor. But dogs can distinguish between many different smells in a group, just like you can look at a photograph and spot lots of different things in it. In short, a dog's nose cannot be fooled so easily."

"So my guess is the Baggage Carousel takes the bags past the K-9 dogs, which spend maybe two or three seconds sniffing each bag," Ran said.

There was a loud thud.

"Ah, _sumimasen_ , mister!"

Two of the men in sunglasses from earlier had slipped on the partially wet floor after bumping into a 10 year old boy. Subsequently, their bags spilled open, revealing nothing but dark-colored soft drinks.

They scrambled to pick them up, muttering unintelligible curse words under their breath.

"Hmm, I wonder where that kid's parents are," Dr. Agasa said. "Huh? Conan?"

Conan's gaze was dead fixed on those three men.

"Conan-kun? Is there something wrong with those three men?" Ran asked. "Conan-kun?"

The men looked at Conan. He averted his gaze to the side.

The three men walked over to where they were, put their stuff on the baggage carousel, and walked away, glancing left and right suspiciously as they did.

As soon as they were gone...

Conan jumped onto the baggage carousel and ran after those men's bags.

"H-hey! Conan-kun!" Ran called out.

"Conan!" The Detective Boys all cried out in unison.

But it was too late. Conan disappeared into the hole in the wall.

"W-why...?" Ran began.

There must've been something in those men's bags that set off red flags for Shinichi, Dr. Agasa thought. In any case, our flight home's gonna have to wait.

 **Scene Transition**

Inside the narrow tunnel, Conan caught up with the three bags belonging to those men.

If I'm right about this, he thought...

"Huh? What's this?" a security guard asked.

His colleague stood up. "What is it?"

"Th-there's a foreign object inside the Baggage Carousel! I think it's a person or something!"

His colleague grabbed his two-way radio. "Hey, there's gonna be a stow away coming your way amomgst the luggage!"

"Copy that."

In the other room, with a man, a K-9 named Clifford, and a conveyor belt, suddenly there was...

"Water?" the man asked. "No, wait, that's...a kid?!"

Conan emerged from the hole in the wall. He was holding an opened bottle of Dr. Popper upside down. The liquid had formed into a puddle on the conveyor belt.

Conan was looking inside the bottle when the guard lifted him up.

He looked at Conan angrily. Conan chuckled nervously.

The man shook his head. "You're in big doodoo this time, brat."

"I need a knife," Conan said.

"Huh?"

"Anything that'll help me cut open this bottle. Look, there's something inside! And I don't think that's supposed to be there."

He gave the bottle to the guard, who took a good look at it. "H-hold on! Is this...?!"

Clifford didn't react.

The man looked at Clifford and sighed. "Well, since he's not barking I guess it can't be..."

"Black Tar Heroin," Conan finished. "Mister, whatever it is, it should be regarded with the utmost suspicion, since someone tried to smuggle it past airport security inside drink bottles. I recommend you send it to a toxicologist for examination."

The guard was kind of hesitant whenever...

The door swung open. Dr. Agasa, Ran, and the Detective Boys entered this private room.

"Conan-kun!" Ran said, taking him in her arms from the guard. "We're terribly sorry if he caused any..."

"No, on the contrary," the guard said, a shocked look on his face, still staring inside the plastic bottle.

 **Scene Transition**

Sitting in detainment in a backroom, they saw the door open. A police officer stepped inside.

"The kid...was right," he said. "We've conclusively identified the substance as Black Tar Heroin. The three men to whom the bags belonged have been taken into police custody."

"Huh?" Ran asked. "Conan-kun, how did you know that?"

Conan just chuckled childishly in a lame attempt to dissuade Ran's suspicions. "I, uh, well, you remember watching that documentary on drugs four night ago, Ran-neechan? It was that special playing on Nichiuri TV!"

"Four nights ago," Ran repeated. "Hmm. Wasn't I out doing karate training with Wada-chan four nights ago?"

"Oh yeah," Conan said childishly. "I guess you didn't see it then."

One day someone's gonna call me out on all these bulls**t excuses, he thought with a deadpan look.

"W-well, now that this case has been settled, we're free to go, right?" Dr. Agasa asked.

"No. This is far from over."

Conan stood up. "This isn't the end of your investigation. Rather, it's just the beginning. More questions have been raised than answered."

"Like?" Mitsuhiko pressed.

"For starters, why Black Tar Heroin?" Conan asked. "It's produced almost exclusively on the American West Coast region, or so that documentary claimed. But it's the second thing that puzzles me the most."

"Second thing?" Dr. Agasa repeated.

"The K-9 dog," Conan said. "Why didn't it bark? I saw it on the documentary: a good police dog should be able to sniff out any kind of heroin. And it wasn't just back then: in the food court, the K-9 dog back then didn't bark either, though the three men with their bags were standing and then sitting but a short distance away."

It's clear, he thought, that the security of this airport has been compromised from within...on a fundamental level!

 **To Be Continued**

 **Ending**

( _Kimi to Yakusoku Shita Yasashii Ano Basho Made_ by La PomPon)

 _Kimi ga tetsuzen inakunaru yume wo saikin yoku miru no yo to_

 _Utsumuku watashi ni nanimo iwazu ni_

 _POKETTO no naka de tsuyoku te wo nigirishimeta kimi_

 _Iro wo kisoiaisaku hana you ni_

 _Monougena ame ni sae mo yori seno sugata ga kagayaku you ni_

 _Kimi to yakusoku shita yasashii ano basho made_

 _Ima wa mada futari otagaihashiritsudzuke you ne_

 _Kimi to azayakana iro ni naru seno toki made_

 _Aenai hibi ga iteshisa wo mashiteyuku yo seshite itsu no hi ni ka_

 _Kimi to yakusoku shita yasashii ano basho made_

 _Nigemichi wo fuyaseba yokei meiro ni hamaru yo ne_

 _Tatoe hyoushiki no nai michi ga tsudzuita toshitemo_

 _Shinjiau kimehi wo michishirube ni yuku yo yasashii ano basho made_

 **NEXT CONAN'S HINT:** Vinegar


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting in detainment in a backroom, they saw the door open. A police officer stepped inside.

"The kid...was right," he said. "We've conclusively identified the substance as Black Tar Heroin. The three men to whom the bags belonged have been taken into police custody."

"Huh?" Ran asked. "Conan-kun, how did you know that?"

Conan just chuckled childishly in a lame attempt to dissuade Ran's suspicions. "I, uh, well, you remember watching that documentary on drugs four night ago, Ran-neechan? It was that special playing on Nichiuri TV!"

"Four nights ago," Ran repeated. "Hmm. Wasn't I out doing karate training with Wada-chan four nights ago?"

"Oh yeah," Conan said childishly. "I guess you didn't see it then."

One day someone's gonna call me out on all these bulls**t excuses, he thought with a deadpan look.

"W-well, now that this case has been settled, we're free to go, right?" Dr. Agasa asked.

"No. This is far from over."

Conan stood up. "This isn't the end of your investigation. Rather, it's just the beginning. More questions have been raised than answered."

"Like?" Mitsuhiko pressed.

"For starters, why Black Tar Heroin?" Conan asked. "It's produced almost exclusively on the American West Coast region, or so that documentary claimed. But it's the second thing that puzzles me the most."

"Second thing?" Dr. Agasa repeated.

"The K-9 dog," Conan said. "Why didn't it bark? I saw it on the documentary: a good police dog should be able to sniff out any kind of heroin. And it wasn't just back then: in the food court, the K-9 dog back then didn't bark either, though the three men with their bags were standing and then sitting but a short distance away."

It's clear, he thought, that the security of this airport has been compromised from within...on a fundamental level!

 **Opening**

(Truth is the convergence of many facts into a beam of light that pierces the shadows!

In today's case, suspicious activity at an airport, conducted on a daily basis...right under the noses of security!

With the body of a child but the brain of an adult, his name is DETECTIVE CONAN!)

( _SILVER BULLET_ by Egoist)

You wipe the blood off your hands, leave the body to the crows

Then you re-enter the crowd, having become a wolf among the lambs

You have made the devil's bargain, yet still you walk among the saints

You let out a sigh and you dare to believe that "nobody will ever know"

A child's cry, a sobbing promise to a dying loved one, words never forgotten

Years pass, his passion undiminished by time wasted and empty leads

He at last finds the golden key that opens the door to the closed case

In the middle of a night like any other, a thousand lights shine upon you!

As long as people continue to devise ways to hurt each other

We will remain faithful and vigilant soldiers in the war on crime

Remembering that path I swore to protect and serve I draw my gun

In a moment of clarity and brilliance the _SILVER BULLET_ is fired!

 **The Dog Who Cried Drugs! Part Two!**

"Does this mean our flight's cancelled?" Genta asked.

Mitsuhiko looked at the time on his phone. "It seems we've already missed the flight anyway, and the next one bound for Tokyo won't depart for another hour and a half."

"Eeeeehhh?!" Ayumi exclaimed.

"Uh, about that," the Professor began.

"D-don't worry about that," the officer said apologetically. "We're working to make sure that you all have seats aboard that next flight."

"Thank you, but I'd like to know why we're still being held in this room," Ran said.

"Yeah, this is a violation of my rights!" Genta declared. "I know, we should all go on hunger strike!"

Could you even last one hour? Conan thought with a deadpan look.

"W-well, a local Inspector in charge of investigating this kind of thing will get here shortly. When I gave him a description of you guys, he adamantly insisted that we keep you all here until his arrival. Sorry."

Wait, Conan thought. Surely he isn't talking about...

"MOURI-SAN!"

Inspector Yamamura slammed the door open and barged into the room a bit clumsily. He looked around, couldn't see Kogoro, and was visibly disappointed.

"So, uh, anyways, I hear this boy here discovered heroin among a passenger's baggage?" Yamamura asked the officer.

The officer nodded. "It was quite a shock that this young boy knew to look for it."

Yamamura looked at Conan suspiciously. "Yeah, that brat with glasses is always copying Mouri-san and pretending to be a detective."

Conan chuckled nervously. At least I'm not a manchild playing police inspector, he thought.

Conan got up. "May I be excused to use the washroom?"

"Ah, me too!" Mitsuhiko said, getting up also.

Crap, Conan thought. "C-can't you hold it in a while longer, Mitsuhiko?!"

"Uh, okay," Mitsuhiko said, taken aback by the unusual forcefulness in his comrade's voice over what should've been a trivial matter of relieving oneselves' bladder.

 **Scene Transition**

Yamamura's phone started vibrating.

"A-ah, it's Mouri-san!" he said. " _Moshi-moshi_?"

"Inspector Yamamura, just the man I was hoping to get in touch with," Kogoro/Conan said from the toilet.

"W-what are you talking about, Mouri-san?" Yamamura asked. "You explicitly called my number, right?"

"We don't have time for dalliances," Kogoro/Conan said. "You need to listen to me carefully and follow my instructions to the letter."

"Um...okay?"

"In about an hour and a half my daughter Ran, the Professor, and the children with them will board a flight back to Tokyo. Before then, I'd like for you and the security personnel of this airport to allow Conan and his friends unrestricted access to any corner of this facility, even the runways if necessary. They're to serve as my eyes and ears, since I obviously am not in Takasaki Airport at this time."

"Uh, why couldn't I do that? Or some of the security personnel here? Why kids?"

"Ah, Inspector, you really don't get it, do you? I'll ask you a question: Those three men and their baggage made it past a K-9 dog without being detected. Most likely they would've boarded their flight unhampered if not for Conan. Do you really think they accomplished this on their own? No, this was an inside job, most likely. That inside man is most likely the mastermind behind this whole operation. Even if his henchmen are arrested his evil scheming will continue. To shut down this drug smuggling operation for good, their ringleader must be taken into custody and his methods must be exposed to the light of day. But if he sees the police snooping around all over the place, he'll know that something's up and he'll likely flee before he can be found and arrested. Children can get inside places that adults cannot without drawing attention to themselves. For the time being there's a good chance that person is still unaware his henchmen have been apprehended, and I'd like it to stay that way until we've had a chance to catch him. Don't you, Inspector?"

Yamamura nodded. "Roger that. I won't let you down, Mouri-san."

 **Scene Transition**

The four Detective Boys stepped out into the open, crowded spaces of the airport.

"I still can't believe it," Mitsuhiko said. "Mouri-san's entrusting the investigation to us?"

"That's what he said," Conan said. "Remember, though, we don't have a lot of time so let's make the most of our efforts."

Okay, Conan thought. Where do we begin? Those men put their items on the baggage carousel, which I guess means they were going to fly from Takasaki Airport to somewhere else. A domestic flight, as that's the only kind this facility supports. That narrows down the list, but not nearly enough.

"Hey, Mitsuhiko," Conan said. "Would you mind Goggling something for me real fast?"

Mitsuhiko took out his phone. "Uh, sure. What is it?"

"I'd like you to Goggle a list of Japanese airports that still use K-9 dogs."

Mitsuhiko did that, and then...

"Uh, it says here there's only two: here and the Ishikari Airport in Sapporo."

"Ah, can you Goggle the distance between Takasaki and Sapporo?"

Mitsuhiko did so. "It says...482 miles."

"Hmm, and the fastest legal speed limit anywhere in Japan is 60 miles an hour," Conan mumbled. "I guess that'd be quite the long haul."

"Uh, Conan?" Ayumi said.

"They could transport more by truck for sure, but if the long driving distance doesn't make it worthwhile, then their production capacity must be limited, suggesting a small-scale local operation. If that's true, then taking out the ringleader may prove enough to prevent black tar heroin from being effectively introduced to Japan."

"Conan!"

Mitsuhiko's words snapped Conan back to reality. "Uh, s-sorry. Hey, guys, excuse me real fast while I make a call."

He walked away. After he was out of earshot he took Kogoro's phone, which he had "borrowed" just in case of a case (no pun intended), out of his pocket.

He dialed Yamamura's number.

"Yes, Mouri-san?"

"Did you do that thing I asked?"

"Yeah," Yamamura said. "Those three men were about to board a flight for Sapporo."

"Ishikari Airport?"

"Y-yeah," Yamamura said. "How'd you know?"

Instead of answering Conan hung up. He smiled.

The dogs are key then, he thought. But how'd they do it?

" _Suugooooii_!"

Conan saw that his young impressionable colleagues had their faces very nearly pressed against the glass, looking outside eagerly.

"Hey, Conan, do you know what that funny looking plane is?" Mitsuhiko asked, practically squealing with delight.

"Ah, that's a Chinook," Conan said. "It's a double rotor helicopter that the air force uses to lift men and supplies across battlefields."

Suddenly they heard a loud barking sound. They turned to see one of the K-9s barking at another dog.

The K-9's handler was pulling it back by the leash.

"S- _sumimasen_ ," he said to the other dog's owner.

"No, it's fine."

Those two people and their dogs went their separate ways.

"That was kind of a funny looking dog, wasn't it?" Ayumi said.

"I believe it may've been a wolfdog, a hybrid between the two canine species," Mitsuhiko said.

"A wolf, huh?" Genta said. "I heard a story about a wolf once. A little boy cried wolf so it huffed and puffed and blew his house down."

"That doesn't make any sense, Genta!" Ayumi said.

"Conan," Mitsuhiko said. "What did you think about that...Conan?"

Conan was in a trance. But then...

"Oh, that grin!" Ayumi said.

"Conan, you've figured it out?" Mitsuhiko asked.

And then he surprised them by saying, "Nope. I've got nothing."

"Huh? Really?" Mitsuhiko said. "I thought you had something."

"I'd like to walk around here by myself for a little while," Conan said. "How about we all meet back with Ran-neechan and the Professor in half an hour?"

 **Scene Transition**

They met up in the waiting area, next to where Ran and Dr. Agasa were sitting.

"You guys found anything?" Ran asked.

Mitsuhiko shook his head. "We asked around but it was a total waste of time."

"Where were you running off to, Conan?" Genta asked.

"N-nowhere," he answered. "Mind your own..."

"Ah, Professor!"

Inspector Yamamura ran up to them, panting. "Mouri-san said you wanted to see me?"

"Huh?!" Dr. Agasa exclaimed. "But I didn..."

Conan, crouching behind a nearby chair, was holding the Voice-Changing Bowtie up to his lips. It was set to emulate the Professor's voice.

"*Ahem*, Yes, I wanted to see you to discuss a very important matter," Conan/Dr. Agasa said, to which the real Professor moved his mouth in time to Conan's voice. "I believe I may have solved this case."

What's going on? Yamamura thought, a bit confused. Wasn't it Mouri-san who was investigating this case? So how did...?

"Eeh?" Ran said. "Professor, you figured it out?"

"It's a rather simple trick, actually," Conan/Dr. Agasa said. "And now I'll proceed to explain it. First off, has anybody here heard of one of Aesop's fables called The Boy Who Cried Wolf?"

"Uh, yeah," Yamamura said. "A bored shepherd boy cried 'Wolf! Wolf!' and the villagers came running, but there was no wolf. Finally a real wolf came and attacked the sheep, and the shepherd boy cried out 'Wolf! Wolf!' again but nobody came to his aid because they didn't believe him. What are you getting at with a children's story, Professor?"

"Would you agree that, like humans, dogs have personalities?" Conan/Dr. Agasa asked.

"Of course!" Yamamura said. "So?"

"Like the villagers who were punished for the good deed of rushing to the boy's aid by being made into fools were eventually conditioned to not respond to his call, dogs too can be conditioned to not do what they're supposed to," Conan/Dr. Agasa said. "Such as sniff out drugs."

"H-hold on!" an Officer said. "Just three days ago one of our canines smelled heroin in a suitcase and barked to alert me to it!"

"Was it black tar heroin?" Conan/Dr. Agasa asked.

"Uh, no, just normal white powder heroin."

"I have another question. Do you think K-9s can tell the difference between powder and black tar heroin?"

"I would assume so," Yamamura said.

"In that case, might it be possible that a K-9 could be conditioned to bark when it smells powder heroin but to do nothing when it smells black tar heroin?" Conan/Dr. Agasa asked.

"I-I guess it could happen," Yamamura said. "Is that what you're suggesting? That the dogs have been trained to ignore the specific smell of black tar heroin?"

"Exactly, Inspector. Since Black Tar Heroin in Japan was unheard of until now, the Japanese police force wouldn't suspect anything from the fact that their dogs never detected it, especially since their dogs were alerting them to normal heroin all the time. But the truth is that, at least in the recent past, the drug has been trafficked in our country and transported from place to place through our airports. This was made possible by the fact that this airport's K-9 dogs, and presumably those serving in Ishikari Airport, aren't doing their jobs. But then again, it isn't really their faults. I guess that, in a way, its yours."

"Huuh?" Yamamura said. "Are you accusing us officers of not doing our jobs?"

"That's right," Conan/Dr. Agasa said. "But like the dogs, you couldn't help it. In fact, I doubt any of you knew that you were doing it. He seemed like such a nice man, after all."

"Him?" Ran repeated.

"Professor, I did as you said!" an approaching Officer said. Choi Soo-geun, the ethnic Korean owner of the airport's Sushi shop, was accompanying him.

"Hey, what's all this about?" Choi protested. "I have a business to run, you know!"

"Choi-san, you're a chef, right?" Conan/Dr. Agasa said. "So tell me, what is sushi made from?"

"W-well, I use the freshest white rice and I steam it for an hour and a half, pouring out and replacing the water halfway through. Then I add rice vinegar, and a pinch of lemon juice, and..."

"Vinegar. You work with that ingredient a lot, don't you?" Conan/Dr. Agasa asked.

"Well, not really," Choi said, feeling exceptionally nervous and trying not to show it. His armpits felt itchy.

"Inspector Yamamura, you remember Haibara, right?" Conan/Dr. Agasa asked.

"Oh, you mean that redheaded girl, right?" Yamamura said.

"Uh, the Professor doesn't normally call Ai-chan that, does he?" Ayumi asked, suspicious.

"I don't think so," Mitsuhiko answered, also suspicious.

"I'm pretty sure Conan's the only one who calls her that," Genta said, the most suspicious of them all.

"I-I meant to say Ai-kun, of course!" Conan/Dr. Agasa said, fake laughing.

Dagnabbit that was close, Conan thought.

"A-anyways, I called her to ask a simple but very important question."

 **Scene Transition**

 _Haibara muted the TV and answered the phone._

 _"Yes?"_

 _"H-hold on," Conan said. "Are you still at the hospital? Because I just kinda forgot you aren't supposed to..."_

 _"It's okay," Haibara said. "Earlier I just suddenly and unexplainedly got completely better so I had Araide-sensei come take me home. What's up?"_

 _"Uh, actually, I just had a short question," Conan said. "You're a distinguished chemist so I figured you might know."_

 _"Know what?"_

 _"Well, I heard a rumor somewhere that..."_

 _He told her._

 _"Huh? You called me just to know that? Why? You've got yourself caught up in another case, didn't you?"_

 _"I'll tell you about it sometime later! Just answer the question."_

 _Haibara sighed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it does. It's synthesized using acetic acid, and acetic acid is basically what makes vinegar smell and taste like it does."_

 _"Thanks, bye."_

 _"W-wai...!"_

 _But he had already hung up, to her chagrin. She growled._

 **Scene Transition**

"So vinegar and black tar heroin smell alike," Choi said defensively. "Why's that relevant?"

"Does anyone know how many K-9s are employed at this facility?" Conan/Dr. Agasa asked.

"Just two," an officer said.

"A while back, did both tend to bark around Choi-san, seemingly for no reason?"

"How did you know that?" an Officer asked.

"At first, we did subject him to full-body searches but after a while we..."

The officer stopped dead in his tracks. "Hold on, Professor, you aren't suggesting that...?"

"I had Conan ask around on my behalf," Conan/Dr. Agasa said. "He told me you officers said that after the searches came up empty you stopped reacting when your dogs barked at Choi-san. Both dogs must've come to the conclusion that black tar heroin is not a contraband substance worth reporting, and thus they didn't."

"But how did he get the dogs to bark in the first place?" Yamamura asked. "I mean, they conducted searches at first, so if he were hiding drugs on his person they would've found it."

"That's where the vinegar comes into play," Conan/Dr. Agasa said. "He applied small amounts of vinegar to his own body, and the dogs mistook it for drugs. Eventually, after the dogs lost credibility with their owners, he may've even grown confident enough to hide real drugs on his body, which, after getting away with it, would complete the re-education of the K-9 dogs."

" _Bakana_!" Choi said angrily. "All of this is absurd! You know, it's awfully suspicious that you police keep subjecting an ethnic minority person to excessive searches and investigations! All my adult life I've been harassed by you b****rds, and I think I finally know why! There is definitely a problem with institutional racism in the Japanese police force, and if you don't stop this nonsense right now I'm gonna file a formal complaint with the Ministry of Justice!"

"Save it for the jury," Conan/Dr. Agasa said. "Has anyone here ever seen a depiction of lady justice wearing a blindfold?"

Ran nodded. "I saw it in a junior high textbook once. I never understood why she was shown like that."

"The blindfold represents the unbiased and impartial nature of Justice," Conan/Dr. Agasa said. "All offenders are treated the same in the eyes of the law, regardless of race or gender. Choi-san, regardless of whether such a problem does or doesn't exist among law enforcement agencies, that has nothing to do with why you stand here accused of drug trafficking today. You only have yourself to blame; the problems of our society rest with criminals, not the police."

"Do you even have any proof?" Choi demanded.

"Inspector, earlier Mouri-san asked you to look into a certain something."

Yamamura nodded. "I confirmed that Choi-san's brother runs the sole sushi shop of Ishikari Airport, and that both set up shop at the same time. I also confirmed that Choi-san attended a college in California, where he majored in Chemistry."

"Choi-san, three of your people have been taken into custody. It's only a matter of time before they rat you out."

Choi fell to his knees and pounded his fist onto the floor. " _Kuuusssssooooooooo_! And I was making a small fortune too! Screw you people!"

Then he started crying, and Yamamura moved to cuff him and take him into custody.

 **Ending**

( _Kimi to Yakusoku Shita Yasashii Ano Basho Made_ by La PomPon)

 _Kimi ga tetsuzen inakunaru yume wo saikin yoku miru no yo to_

 _Utsumuku watashi ni nanimo iwazu ni_

 _POKETTO no naka de tsuyoku te wo nigirishimeta kimi_

 _Iro wo kisoiaisaku hana you ni_

 _Monougena ame ni sae mo yori seno sugata ga kagayaku you ni_

 _Kimi to yakusoku shita yasashii ano basho made_

 _Ima wa mada futari otagaihashiritsudzuke you ne_

 _Kimi to azayakana iro ni naru seno toki made_

 _Aenai hibi ga iteshisa wo mashiteyuku yo seshite itsu no hi ni ka_

 _Kimi to yakusoku shita yasashii ano basho made_

 _Nigemichi wo fuyaseba yokei meiro ni hamaru yo ne_

 _Tatoe hyoushiki no nai michi ga tsudzuita toshitemo_

 _Shinjiau kimehi wo michishirube ni yuku yo yasashii ano basho made_

Yamamura and the captured drug kingpin had left.

Dr. Agasa looked up at the electronic sign and then down at his watch. "Well, I guess we better head for the departure gate if we don't want to miss our flight."

"There they are!"

"It's that kid with the glasses, right?"

This can't be good, Conan thought, honestly starting to freak out a bit as the mob ran towards them.

They turned to run but then another group came running at them from the opposite direction. Then they were completely surrounded.

It turned out the mob consisted of news reporters and journalists.

"Conan Edogawa, is it true that you singlehandedly busted a drug-smuggling ring at this airport?" one person asked.

"N-no!" Conan said, trying to shield himself from the barrage of flash photography. "Go away, you vultures! All of you!"

"It was me!" Dr. Agasa declared loudly. "I cracked the case!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing.

And then...

"Yeah right," one guy said.

"What a lousy story that would make," another said.

Mitsuhiko, sensing a golden opportunity, stepped forward. "WE solved it! The Detective Boys, a mystery solving club from Beika Primary School! Obviously I'm the group's leader, and Conan-kun here is just my young protege, of course!"

Well, suffice to say, the press ate that up. The barrage of flash photography resumed as the four Detective Boys posed for a picture (on Conan's part, it consisted of him being"playfully" held in a headlock by Genta while looking annoyed).

 **The Next Day**

"And then, I jumped onto the baggage carousel and disappeared behind the wall!" Mitsuhiko said.

Their classmates were gathered around to hear Mitsuhiko, Ayumi, and Genta tell a (borderline fictional) account of yesterday's airport adventure.

Conan and Haibara stood off at a distance.

"It must be hard, letting other people take all the credit for your accomplishments," Haibara said.

Conan shrugged. "By now I've just learned to roll with it. I'm glad to see you're all better."

"Thanks. By the way, you do realize that your face is appearing on the front cover of newspapers all over the country, right?"

"Well I didn't exactly have a choice."

"Still, it's things like this that could draw Their attention to you. You don't want Gin breaking in and abducting you while you're sleeping, do you?"

"You're exaggerating," Conan said. "Of course I do try to keep a low profile, but...I don't think this one time will hurt anything."

"I hope you're right, for all our sakes."

 **Scene Transition**

Angry, he kicked his chair over and picked it up and threw it a few feet across the room. He panted.

His marks were very elusive prey. Still, giving up on the hunt was not an option. His former associate, Gin, had captured photographic evidence of him eating a pulled pork sandwich. For an observing Jew like him, having his friends and family see the photo would be enough to shatter his hard-earned reputation. Gin promised to dispose of the picture only if he could locate the whereabouts, if living, of Shuichi Akai, Shiho Miyano, and Shinichi Kudo. But so far he had nothing, and time was running out.

The was a ring of the doorbell. He sighed and answered it. Nobody was there but the daily paper had been delivered to his doorstep. He picked it up, closed the door behind him, lied down in bed, and started reading.

"Hmm? What's this?"

The headline read:

KID DETECTIVES BUST DRUG SMUGGLERS

After having read the article...

"Hold on," he mumbled, getting up. "This could match up with that thing on Sherry, maybe."

Finally, he had a lead. If he worked long hours on this, maybe he could beat Gin's deadline. Heck, something like this could be enough to get him back into the good graces of the Organization. He grinned. It was about time that he got back into the game.

His name was Moonshine, and Shinichi Kudo would soon be in deep trouble.


End file.
